Lacrosse Fans Clamor for New Video Game

College Lacrosse 2010 is targeted for a September 2009
release on the Xbox Live Community Games platform.

Duke attackman Ned Crotty dodges behind the cage. He splits
to his left hand, then to his right. There's no outlet.

North Carolina defenseman Ryan Flanagan waits for his opening.
Crotty rolls back to his left hand -- or tries to, anyway. Flanagan
slaps up on Crotty's stick and sends it propelling into the
air.

Quint Kessenich barks through the console speakers, "Yard
sale!"

...

Lacrosse fans have craved this kind of virtual reality in their
living rooms for decades: a big-budget video game dedicated to
their sport. Thanks to the social networking phenomenon, the clamor
has reached fever pitch.

Karl Brummer, a rising high school senior at Trinity School in
Minnesota, started a Facebook group three months ago lobbying EA
Sports, a brand most recognized for perennial hits like NHL and
Madden NFL, to produce a lacrosse video game.

"I felt like making a Facebook group and seeing how big it would
become," Brummer said. "I didn't expect it to have any
influence."

"The group is having a big influence on the lacrosse community.
Most of the petitioners are lacrosse players, so this group unifies
them. The group also raises awareness to Facebookers who have never
heard of the sport," Brummer said. "It is actually getting noticed
by video game designers."

One member of the group, Carlo Sunseri, has decided to do
something about it. A Pittsburgh native and former three-time
captain of the Robert Morris men's lacrosse team, Sunseri left a
2007 Major League Lacrosse tryout for the Washington Bayhawks
disillusioned with how he played compared to others there. He would
not get signed.

"My parents asked me what I'd do if I had a million dollars,"
Sunseri said, "and I said build a lacrosse video game."

Sunseri tracked down a Scottish video game developer through
Microsoft's Xbox Live Community Games -- a virtual console for
user-generated content. It's the perfect third-party community for
someone like Sunseri with limited funding and contacts. He had
never built a video game before, but found a developer who could
fashion a lacrosse game from a soccer game recently released on the
same platform.

Sunseri, a self-proclaimed entrepreneur and assistant coach at
Robert Morris, provides project management and lacrosse
know-how.

College Lacrosse 2010 has been in development for
nearly three months and will be available for download through the
Xbox Community Games channel in September, Sunseri said.

"Once on Xbox, it will be available to 20 million people in 26
different countries. The potential to spread the game of lacrosse
is unparalleled to anything that's been released on the market," he
said. "I've played lacrosse my whole life. I've always played video
games, as well. I've always dreamed of playing lacrosse the video
game just like we play Madden, NHL and FIFA."

Sunseri recently provided a virtual demo of the game for Lacrosse
Magazine. Although the graphics remain under development, he said,
the game's strengths are its customization and lacrosse-specific
movements. For instance, Sunseri circumvented the NCAA's steep
licensing fee by allowing users to customize team names, jerseys,
colors and rankings. They can unlock the game in NCAA tournament
mode or pro mode -- with versions planned for both indoor and
outdoor.

Game-play features include:

College lacrosse rules, such as 10 seconds to advance.

Offensive formations, such as 2-3-1 and circle.

Six different camera angles.

Networking, with the ability to play friends online.

Various dodges, including swim, split and spin moves.

Training mode for passing, shooting and one-on-ones.

Defensive control for stick checks (with same planned for
offense and cradling).

With its low-budget workarounds and limited availability,
College Lacrosse 2010 might not satisfy the lacrosse community's
growing hunger for a mainstream video game. Others have ventured
into this territory before (see below), but with limited scope.

"But if the first game is successful," Brummer said, "then bigger
companies such as EA will have to make a game eventually, as
well."

Public relations contacts for EA Sports did not immediately return
e-mails seeking comment for this story.

It's in the Game

Though mainstream brands such as EA Sports have yet to venture a
lacrosse video game into the market, previous efforts by smaller
companies have found varying degrees of success.

* Blast Lacrosse was licensed by the National
Lacrosse League and Professional Lacrosse Players Association,
produced by Aklaim Sports and released in May 2001 for Sony's
PlayStation. It features the NLL's nine teams at the time and
fast-paced play mirroring the comic book-like movements of NBA Jam
and NFL Blitz.

Here's a YouTube clip of the game in action:

* On Feb. 15, 2005, the NLL announced that its partner,
Activision, would produce a new video game to be
released for the 2007 season. Former commissioner Jim Jennings, who
resigned before the 2009 season, told NLL.com that the game would
be released in 2009.

* Brine Lacrosse, a video game for mobile phones
published by the equipment manufacturer of the same name, was
released in March 2006. Produced by wireless entertainment provider
SkyZone Entertainment, it features Mikey Powell on its title screen
and regionally-based teams from Baltimore, Long Island, Upstate New
York, New England, the Midwest and the West Coast.

* Activision included lacrosse among its offerings in Big
League Sports for Nintendo Wii, released in December 2008.
It features 22 events in six sports, including a one-on-one
situational game for lacrosse. Big League Sports has "a singular
focus on putting players in the most thrilling situations while
competing in their favorite sports," the press release stated.

* Virtual Wall-Ball was released in February 2009
as part of the US
Lacrosse Widget, powered by Lacrosse Magazine. The computer
game allows users to rack up points while playing wall ball on
their desktops, with a highest scores platform and varying degrees
of difficulty.